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The tower tuscaloosa6/24/2023 Smith in his Reminiscences, quotes for a record of 1818 as follows: "Prison bounds of Tuskaloosa County-Limits as follows: Commencing at the jail, thence running in a direct line to Lewin's including Lewin's houses: thence to J.V. The jail seems to have been insecure because, a short time later, $75 was paid for "repairing and making secure the door of said jail." During the first three years $240 was paid to guards who were paid one dollar per day. The cost of the jail was $138 plus $10 for making the lock. The first county jail was built in 1818 by John Baker. The county paid annual rent of $80 for the use of the Masonic Hall. It is the lot on which the Alston Building is now located. Lot 2014 is on the southeast corner at the intersection of Greensboro Avenue and Sixth Street. 4 on November 2, 1821, and that the Masons possessed the lot until 1836. The location of the Masonic Hall is not certainly known, but records show that lot 204 was sold by the U.S. In 1821 the seat of justice was moved to the Masonic Hall. Therefore it seems evident that the fourth of a block designated as "Court Square" was reserved at a very early date. The block containing "Court Square" has its lots 104, 105 and 106. Tuscaloosa was surveyed in the spring and summer of 1821 and the lots were numbered, beginning in the northeast corner of Section 22. Wyman's location of our first courthouse places i on the southwest corner at the intersection of Fourth Street and Twenty-second Avenue. It was the old Bell Tavern with a new name.ĭr. This was the lot on the north side of Broad Street, immediately opposite the present Washington Hotel." WAshington Hotel was at that time located on the southwest corner at the intersection of Broad Street and Twenty-second Avenue, the present location of the U.S. Wyman (180-1915), who was a professor at the University of Alabama for nearly half a century, in a newspaper article written in 1899, says: "I conjecture that it was a temporary structure of logs built on the lot which was afterwards designated as "Court Square". The location of this early courthouse is not known. Therefore we know that there was a courthouse in Tuscaloosa at that date. This meeting was called for a date in January, 1820. ![]() The earliest mention of a county courthouse in Tuscaloosa is found in an invitation issued to all white males twenty-one years of age and older and resdiding in Section 22, Township 21 South and Range 10 West, to meet at the courthouse for the purpose of electing commissioners to govern the town of Tuscaloosa. These events made government necessary, and also required a building or several buildings in which to carry on the government. The first white settlers came to Tuscaloosa in 1816 Tuscaloosa County was created by the territorial legislature in 1818 and the town of Tuscaloosa was incorporated in 1819. May it ever be used in the pursuit of justice under God for all men. This building is hereby dedicated to the people of Tuscaloosa County, its citizens of today and future generations. ![]() Towering on the skyline, the building will also tell visitors to this beauitful city and county that people who live here are progressive and ambitious. ![]() This new Courthouse, the realization of a dream for many people in Tuscaloosa County, will stand as a monument to the leadership and foresight of the citizens and governmental leaders of this county.Īll Tuscaloosa County government agencies will make this building their new home and this new Courthouse will always be a reminder to the people of Tuscaloosa County of the things that can be accomplished when people join hands in a common cause. During the past year, business and industry moved, ahead, residential and commercial building was at an all-time high, personal income increased, and new schools were constructed in almost every section of the county.Īnd with the dedication today of Tuscaloosa's new Courthouse, 1964 is off to a wonderful start and historians will record this year as a milestone in the history of the Druid City. Tuscaloosa stands today on the brink of one of the greatest periods of growth and properity in its history.
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